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I have been working there for 5 years, this January. I have finally decided the last straw has broke. I am now looking for another stamping company...
Last week, I spoke to Demo support, about letting other demos know about an inventory program that I have created. I mentioned that I would love to see if they would place like a booth or flyer at the regionals, to see how many demos are really interested in having SU have a program available to us.
They said absolutely not. They have protocol for events, and don't change anything about any of them. Then they started asking me if I would do that. I said I thought it was an idea they should consider, but they wouldn't.
I asked them about if I could possibly talk to others or tell others about the cd, and of course, absolutely not. I then receive an email saying I am banned from any further events! I call them up this morning, and she now states that I cannot even talk to other demos, email other demos, etc about this cd.
Hopefully, saying it on here isn't against their policy now either. Because everything they say I take with a grain of salt, because they turn around, and contradict what others have said. Then they say that it's due to training problems in the demo support. :mad:
I have been working there for 5 years, this January. I have finally decided the last straw has broke. I am now looking for another stamping company...
Last week, I spoke to Demo support, about letting other demos know about an inventory program that I have created. I mentioned that I would love to see if they would place like a booth or flyer at the regionals, to see how many demos are really interested in having SU have a program available to us.
They said absolutely not. They have protocol for events, and don't change anything about any of them. Then they started asking me if I would do that. I said I thought it was an idea they should consider, but they wouldn't.
I asked them about if I could possibly talk to others or tell others about the cd, and of course, absolutely not. I then receive an email saying I am banned from any further events! I call them up this morning, and she now states that I cannot even talk to other demos, email other demos, etc about this cd.
Hopefully, saying it on here isn't against their policy now either. Because everything they say I take with a grain of salt, because they turn around, and contradict what others have said. Then they say that it's due to training problems in the demo support. :mad:
Lisa
Well, that was so nice of them. I would call DS and ask for a supervisor of some sort and demand some answers. They way they handle things I swear never make much sense.
Wow, the fact you had the courtesy to ask their permission to talk to other folks linked with SU (either as customer or demo) about your inventory program, and then have tham *assume* you would speak about it anyways even after you asked and SU said no, and go so far as to ban you from future events . . . . that is really offensive!!!! You asked, they answered, and they should have left it at that instead of getting all proactive on your backside by banning you and slapping a gag order on you. Really makes me wonder how many other individuals SU has done this to, and what they have to fear or hide. What kind of company have we all been dealing with, that would go to such extreme measures?
Lisa, if you do get up the courage to speak to DS again as SkyesMom suggested, please feel free to forward to them my comments above, which reflect my honest reaction at hearing how you've been treated. Seriously, the only other time I've heard such tactics being used is from interviews and conversations with farmers and their experiences with Monsanto. Not exactly a paragon of customer service!!!
But if you told them it was a system to inventory specifically SU sets and items I can understand why they would get thier hackles raised - they hold copyrights on SU names and products...to design a system for your own use is one thing - to try and market it to others without permission or proper proticols is a totally other thing
__________________ Jenni -Happy SU Demo - MY GALLERY & MY CHAOTIC LIFE One kid makes you a Parent - Two makes you a Referee
But if you told them it was a system to inventory specifically SU sets and items I can understand why they would get thier hackles raised - they hold copyrights on SU names and products...to design a system for your own use is one thing - to try and market it to others without permission or proper proticols is a totally other thing
I agree. And to answer your question. No, I am not fed up with SU. I think they are an excellent company and I have had the opportunity to work with them while I served on the Advisory Board. They will do what is in their best interest and I would suggest taking this up with them instead of airing it on a public discussion board.
Maybe I am not understanding what is going on here. You have a CD that you have created and you wanted to know if SU would allow you to have a booth or whatever at Regionals..is that right? The CD is a CD with all of the stamp names, etc in it or something? Am I assuming correctly? If I am correct, then I can see how they would not allow this. Generally the regional events are SU events....if I had a cookbook for sale, they wouldn't let me set up shop there..if I had packaged cards together to sell they wouldn't let me do it. The same for your own business....if someone wanted to put flyers at your booth or whatever, you would more than likely say no...it's your booth that you've paid for and for someone else to come in a ride your coattails to benefit from it would be *wrong*. Maybe I am not understanding correctly, though. As far as them being mean to you...I am sorry about that. You should have asked to speak with a supervisor in this case. Every compnay can have customer service *bad days*. I have yet to come upon a company staffed by Humans that didn't. I have never had a DS problem with SU in the 3 years I have been a Demo...but things happen. It shouldn't turn into an SU bashing session however (for those who would want to do that, of course..).
__________________ Keva
We shouldn't have expectations of others that we, ourselves, could not fulfill.
Your original post is unclear. You didn't give us any backgroupd about who you are and what type of product you have. If you deveoped it yourself, who it is for, etc. Stamping ralated products are available everywhere, such as "Stamping is my Business" and the thing available on here for keeping track of customer items. You are welcome to market something you developed by yourself, but do not expect SU! to let you have space at their events. I ordered a stamppad turntable from someone who had offered it to SU! years ago (before they had one) and were turned down.
__________________ ~Vee
It's not who you know-it's whom you know.
I too am a bit confused...the extremes that SU! is taking concerning this matter must mean that we are lacking some information...Either way. I would speak to them again and find out exactly why the decisions were made in the manner that they were. Good Luck!
It is always good to vent before you lose your cool...so, I am pleased that you did take time to do that first. ((((((HUGS))))))
Sounds to me like this is a program the OP is trying to market to SU specifically. Sure, it's their right to tell her they are not interested and they MAY be within their rights to ask her not to market it as it contains trademarked information. It should have just stopped at that. As far as SU or even the rest of us know, the OP has not marketed her product elsewhere so they have banned her from future events with no justifiable reason to do so. I could see it if she can to an event and marketed her product after being asked not to but not beforehand. Didn't an SU demo create another program many other demos use to tracking purposes? Isn't it called something like Stampers Sidekick? Not being a demo myself I have no idea if that program contains SU trademarked material, but if it does, how did that person get to market it? Large companies often try to bully smaller people out of the way and sound so threatening to scare them off while the smaller people are not necessarily doing anything to break trademark rules.
To the OP: If you think you have a really great product, you should contact a trademark attorney about whether or not it breaks trademark law. If it doesn't you should be able to market it whether SU likes it or not.
I agree, I don't think this is the proper forum to rant about a single particular issue you have with any company.
Sorry, my daughter hit the send button before I had a chance to finish that thought, and if there were still an edit button . .
I would like to add:
The demo side may be more appropriate since most people on this side are customers and would not "be fed up" over issues like this. There have been other threads in the past where a poster has made a complaint about one interaction with an online stamp company or such and it blossomed out of control. I just don't want the generally happy SU stamper to be disillusioned by a situation like this.
__________________ Kristina Wife, Mommy, Stamper, Nurse Laura 6yo Jack 5yo, James 4/20/08 Megan arrived 3/16/09
What I got out of the OP is that she was offereing her program to SU to share with other demos. She said, "to see how many demos are really interested in having SU have a program available to us." But that isn't the issue (if she made a bad program due to copyright issues). The issue is how they treated her after they said 'no thank you' to her. Unless she isn't telling the whole story she didn't threaten to distribute this on her own. They should have respected her for contacting them first and continued that respect by assuming she would not go against their wishes. Being an American company I'd like to think they follow the innocent until proven guilty school of thought.
Let me edit my last remark...if you are not breaking trademark law, you should be free to market your product. SU does not, however, have to provide a booth at their sponsored events in order for you to do it nor provide you with a mailing list of demos to contact. If your product is legally marketable, you could probably buy some advertising space here on Splitcoast and reach a lot of demos that way.
Sounds to me like this is a program the OP is trying to market to SU specifically. Sure, it's their right to tell her they are not interested and they MAY be within their rights to ask her not to market it as it contains trademarked information. It should have just stopped at that. As far as SU or even the rest of us know, the OP has not marketed her product elsewhere so they have banned her from future events with no justifiable reason to do so. I could see it if she can to an event and marketed her product after being asked not to but not beforehand. Didn't an SU demo create another program many other demos use to tracking purposes? Isn't it called something like Stampers Sidekick? Not being a demo myself I have no idea if that program contains SU trademarked material, but if it does, how did that person get to market it? Large companies often try to bully smaller people out of the way and sound so threatening to scare them off while the smaller people are not necessarily doing anything to break trademark rules.
To the OP: If you think you have a really great product, you should contact a trademark attorney about whether or not it breaks trademark law. If it doesn't you should be able to market it whether SU likes it or not.
Stamper's Sidekick DOES NOT come with any product information (meaning SU! inventory) already loaded into the program. That is a HUGE no-no and my husband knew that from the start. Just wanted to clarify that point ... just so there was no confusion.
We do know that there are product lists that circulate in various online groups ... but we are in no way associated with facilitating their distribution.
Thanks for clarifying Sarah, I know your program is out there but since I am not a demo I never had seen it in person.
No problem, Kristina! Just wanted to clarify that before people possibly misunderstood and thought that we were distributing a product list with the program.
Am I the only one surprised that this poster only had 5 posts total and is now posting this? Possibly I am being cynical, but seems strange to me to join a board and then post this immediatly. I could be wrong but sounds like she is trying to get people interested in her product so they contact her about it. Now, this being said I am not a demo so just reading this as a loyal fan of SCS. Like I said, could just be that I have seen quite a few posts on here recently that are very negative.
__________________ Lisa C., Mom to 3 great kids, 3 super dogs and an cat that thinks she is a dog! My Gallery
I'd echo what some others have said and request that any posters to this thread please extend common courtesy to both the original poster and the company. just as we discourage disparaging remarks or accusations against individuals, we also try and give the same courtesy to organizations of all kinds.
in general, if you've got an issue with a company or an individual it's probably best take it up with them directly rather than air it here.
Am I the only one surprised that this poster only had 5 posts total and is now posting this? Possibly I am being cynical, but seems strange to me to join a board and then post this immediatly. I could be wrong but sounds like she is trying to get people interested in her product so they contact her about it. Now, this being said I am not a demo so just reading this as a loyal fan of SCS. Like I said, could just be that I have seen quite a few posts on here recently that are very negative.
I agree with you - it is a little weird. Obviously I am not an SU demo either. There is something not being said.
__________________ Kate
�So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.�
I'd echo what some others have said and request that any posters to this thread please extend common courtesy to both the original poster and the company. just as we discourage disparaging remarks or accusations against individuals, we also try and give the same courtesy to organizations of all kinds.
in general, if you've got an issue with a company or an individual it's probably best take it up with them directly rather than air it here.
Maybe you should take this to the demo side where you will have more people that understand what you are trying to say. I myself (although I am a Demo) do not fully understand what you are trying to say. Big businesses are contacted everyday with people, employees or not, trying to sell them on something. What you should have done, rather than just make a cold call that probably did not give all the information about your cd, is to prepare a formal professional looking written presentation with a sample of what your cd can do.
That should have been sent to the proper department for review. They could then, if interested contact you for more information. If you are just cold presenting to them with a phone you can not expect them to do business this way. If you send written information to them, they will have all of the details, many of which would probably be left out in a telephone call. If you want to conduct business with a business, you have to approach it on a professional level.
Just adding my .02cents.
This is part of the reason that the edit button was removed. So that people could not back track on their original post. Saying your daughter hit the send button, them someone calls you out on your post, then you go back and add another post correcting your first one is basically backtracking. I am THRILLED that the edit button is removed just for THAT reason!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kristransue
Sorry, my daughter hit the send button before I had a chance to finish that thought, and if there were still an edit button . .
I would like to add:
The demo side may be more appropriate since most people on this side are customers and would not "be fed up" over issues like this. There have been other threads in the past where a poster has made a complaint about one interaction with an online stamp company or such and it blossomed out of control. I just don't want the generally happy SU stamper to be disillusioned by a situation like this.
In the interest of full-disclosure, I am a new SU demo. I can see SU's point on not wanting a product that they don't carry/endorse to be marketed at their event. I can't speak to how you were treated - I wasn't on either end of the conversations. I just hope that it's resolved to everyone's satisfaction.
But I do have an issue with the tone of your post heading. How likely is it that anyone else is as fed up with SU for anything like this reason? Your complaint is rather unique - valid, or not valid - but unique. Even titling it "I'm totally fed up with SU" would have been less controversial.
I wish you luck in your business endeavors. And as a new demo, if you take out advertising on SCS, I'll likely click on over to check out your product. But if you're looking to market to demo's you might want to consider the image you're projecting - especially since most of them are likely satisfied with SU and want to do everything they can to grow SU's reputation (and their own businesses).
OK - I've read this twice to make sure I won't regret hitting send.
Just adding my .02cents.
This is part of the reason that the edit button was removed. So that people could not back track on their original post. Saying your daughter hit the send button, them someone calls you out on your post, then you go back and add another post correcting your first one is basically backtracking. I am THRILLED that the edit button is removed just for THAT reason!!!!
Just to clarify - maybe you're just using Kris' post as an example...I didn't see anything wrong with her original post, nor anyone calling her out, nor any backtracking. Unless I missed something...
Maybe one of the reasons that SU said no is because they have no quality control. If they let you have a booth, they will have to let others and surely they don't have the time to vet all of you to ensure the claims you make about your product are valid.
By being at regionals you would automatically be associated with SU! And hypothetically if one of these products on one of the booths did not live up to claims SU's reputation would be affected by association.
I really don't see the problem in them saying no to you, maybe they could have said no in a nicer way.
I'm not a demo, I've never been to regionals, so forgive me if they do have independent booths there.
Well, that was so nice of them. I would call DS and ask for a supervisor of some sort and demand some answers. They way they handle things I swear never make much sense.
I misunderstood, or read the post to fast. They way they treated you is something I see as unprofessional.
If you have a program to inventory SU!'s products, then I can see why they wouldn't allow it. But instead of getting all huffy to you. A different approach would have been more ethical. Maybe even working with you on how to make this possible and available to other demos. But first calmly and nicely explain to you why you couldn't do this on your own.
Just adding my .02cents.
This is part of the reason that the edit button was removed. So that people could not back track on their original post. Saying your daughter hit the send button, them someone calls you out on your post, then you go back and add another post correcting your first one is basically backtracking. I am THRILLED that the edit button is removed just for THAT reason!!!!
she quoted herself to pick up where she left off.. where is she being called out on her post??
Just to clarify - maybe you're just using Kris' post as an example...I didn't see anything wrong with her original post, nor anyone calling her out, nor any backtracking. Unless I missed something...
I love SU! and I am not even a demo. I am sorry that you have had a bad experience. As a customer, I have always had top notch customer care from them but no company is never going to make any mistakes. If you have worked with them for 5 years and love SU! as much as the rest of us do, it is surprising that you are just now signing into scs. It shows you only have 5 posts so far. We aren't suppose to have more than one account on scs so I am assuming that you are indeed new. Stick around if you are new and you will learn to really love it here! This is a great bunch of ladies and we really strive to have fun and be positive so I honestly hope you will be happy here and find a great home like I have.
Jen
I love SU! and I am not even a demo. I am sorry that you have had a bad experience. As a customer, I have always had top notch customer care from them but no company is never going to make any mistakes. If you have worked with them for 5 years and love SU! as much as the rest of us do, it is surprising that you are just now signing into scs. It shows you only have 5 posts so far. We aren't suppose to have more than one account on scs so I am assuming that you are indeed new. Stick around if you are new and you will learn to really love it here! This is a great bunch of ladies and we really strive to have fun and be positive so I honestly hope you will be happy here and find a great home like I have.
Jen
She signed up in July of 2004. She just hasn't posted much. I think Daven asked us to be nice.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wwjdstamper
I have been working there for 5 years, this January. I have finally decided the last straw has broke. I am now looking for another stamping company...
Last week, I spoke to Demo support, about letting other demos know about an inventory program that I have created. I mentioned that I would love to see if they would place like a booth or flyer at the regionals, to see how many demos are really interested in having SU have a program available to us.
They said absolutely not. They have protocol for events, and don't change anything about any of them. Then they started asking me if I would do that. I said I thought it was an idea they should consider, but they wouldn't.
I asked them about if I could possibly talk to others or tell others about the cd, and of course, absolutely not. I then receive an email saying I am banned from any further events! I call them up this morning, and she now states that I cannot even talk to other demos, email other demos, etc about this cd.
Hopefully, saying it on here isn't against their policy now either. Because everything they say I take with a grain of salt, because they turn around, and contradict what others have said. Then they say that it's due to training problems in the demo support. :mad:
Lisa
Based on the parts bolded, it sounds like you are direct employee and not just a demonstrator. As a direct employee, SU! has every right (based on my previous experience working in HR) to fire you for not heeding their request (second bolded sentence) because you are "talking" to demos here at SCS about this issue.
Companies do have a right to protect their image, name and trademark.
Now, if your post was mis-written and you aren't actually a direct employee of SU!, then none of my above comments really matter. I'm still surprised by your post if they asked you not to talk to other demos and yet here you are on SCS "venting".
I am not a demo. I have no rant with SU! I am actually quite pleased with their products and the support I have received.
If I was a demo, I'd be a little irked that you are "venting" on the non-demo side of this board. But, to each his/her own as long as there are no violations of the TOS or employment agreements, etc.
I'm less inclined to have my opinion of SU! swayed by someone who posts and runs such as the OP did. I don't lend much credence to someone who does not come back to a potential drama situation that THEY started to present more information that was asked for several times to clarify what the actual series of events were.
This cd, I have in the last 3 years contacted SU to double check that I am still following their rules regarding copyright issues.
The cd is an inventory program to help demos in keeping track of all their products and supplies. It also has forms on it to help the orders, and add it all up for them.
Stampin' Up! has as far as I know, not even considered it. They've even told me fantastic that demos are interested in this program. So far since July 1 with the new 2006-07 catalog, I have sold almost 200, and there are still more orders coming in.
They have suggested to me in the last few months, to find out how many are interested in this program. I have posted it on the discuss, and they refuse to post it. I've asked them if they'd even do a survey, and no response. So I finally asked them if they'd do a booth of some kind at a regional to do a poll to see how many are interested.
This is not something I just jumped into. I have been working on this for 3 years, and sold probably near 500+ cd's. I am not doing this for the money, I am doing it to help other demos. In all sincerity I probably make not even 50 cents per cd. Nearly all demos who receive it, call or email me asking why SU has not considered even creating their own inventory cd for their demos, when they have 4-6 cd's already for us, for ideas, journaling, etc.
Yes, I do sell on ebay retired items. Or when I am cleaning out my craft room, maybe once a year. If you look at my selling, it's groups of things for SU it is about 1 maybe 2 a year. And it's because I've been cleaning out my room. A few months ago, it was because I'm trying to get rid of at least half of my things because we're moving.
Don't judge me just because of these posts. I'm not judging SU, I'm seeing if SU will actually start listening to demos ideas. And stop using us just for the money. Honestly that's how I feel. Just look at their new policies for sales, that started in July.
And no I did not start up SCS just to post this. I signed up for SCS a few years ago, and have posted many different posts. This is the first one that I have posted, regarding this type of item.
